The Super Nintendo Entertainment System turned 25 this year on Nov. 21 along with two of the best Nintendo games ever created, one of which is still considered by many as one of the best titles to ever hit the gaming scene.
It was the year 1990 when Nintendo Japan rocked the gaming world with F-Zero and Super Mario World as well as the Super Famicom, which was the original name of the SNES when the console was released.
It was a big day for Nintendo. So big that the weekday launch of the Super Famicom caused a huge uproar, making the Japanese government ask console makers to limit releases to weekends to avoid similar disturbances from happening again, according to Steven Kent, author of "The Ultimate History of Video Games."
Moving forward, to celebrate the SNES' birthday, let's go ahead and rehash the games that made it wildly successful.
First up, F-Zero is set in a futuristic world in the year 2560 where players race in hovercars on an obstacle-filled track. Players could choose from four different characters who each owned a special hovercar with distinct special abilities.
Though the futuristic racing game won't probably seem too appealing to today's young gamers, it's worth mentioning that F-Zero is the first of its kind, and it's likely one of the reasons why the Mario Kart franchise kicked off.
Next up, Super Mario World isn't the first time that the princess-saving plumber debuted, but the game made an impressive mark when it was released because it introduced Mario's dino pal Yoshi, an overview of the map and new jumps, including the spin jump. Yoshi then went on to join Nintendo's iconic characters, even getting a couple of games of his own.
On an interesting note, many still regard Super Mario World as one of the best games ever, where Nintendo's 300,000-unit followup to the Super Famicom that sold like hotcakes in a mere few hours has attributed to the game's success.
On top of those two, Star Wars fans also got a little something from the SNES back in 1992 when Super Star Wars rolled out. Two decades after its launch, the classic sidescrolling platformer/shooter has been made available again on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita with trophy support and other new features.
The era of the SNES will never be forgotten, and the console will remain in the hearts of classic gamers everywhere. With everything said and done, there's only one thing left to say: Happy birthday, SNES!
Photo: Tom Newby | Flickr
